Realogy and Keller Williams are at the top of the real estate industry these days, according to the second annual Swanepoel Mega 1000 list of the country’s top 1,000 brokerages along with top 20 franchisors and holding companies.
The Mega 1000, compiled by real estate consulting and analytics firm T3 Sixty, uses U.S.-only sales volume as the sorting standard, as T3 Sixty believes it’s the best way to measure a company’s overall strength, aside from actual net revenue numbers.
“Without precision, decisions are doomed before they’re even made,” T3 Sixty CEO Stefan Swanepoel said, in a statement. “At T3 Sixty, we passionately believe in accuracy and integrity, which compelled us to create the Mega 1000.”
“With the Mega 1000, we strive to provide the industry the most accurate, complete and thorough information possible, Swanepoel added. “Reliable facts help everyone see the shifts and changes reshaping our industry more clearly, which makes us all better.”
T3 Sixty’s list includes companies that typically decline to participate in other industry rankings — including Redfin and Weichert Realtors — by conducting its own independent research and analysis.
The company said it conducts hundreds of hours of research, including phone calls with company executives and leaders and verification from third-party sources like state real estate departments and local multiple listing services.
It’s the second year the company has published the Mega 1000. It also annually compiles a list of the most powerful people in real estate.
The Mega 1000 comes a week after Real Trends released its list of the top brokerages in the country. Real Trends’ website was subsequently hacked after the release of the ranking and taken offline for a day. The hack is still under investigation by the company.
Top brokerages
The top 20 brokerages by sales volume, according to the Swanepoel Mega 1000 | Credit: T3 Sixty
NRT LLC, the company-owned brokerage subsidiary of Realogy, once again topped the list for sales volume, with its agents pulling in roughly $176 billion in sales volume. That paced the company slightly ahead of HomeServices of America, which pulled in $135 billion.
NRT was also the top brokerage by agent count, with slightly more than 50,000 agents. HomeServices of America, number two in both volume and agent count, actually passed NRT in transactions, with 346,629 – approximately 10,000 more than NRT.
Compass finished a distant third, with $45 billion in sales volume, an increase of 225 percent over last year, when it finished ninth on the list. Those numbers also don’t include Alain Pinel Realtor’s $12 billion in sales volume which was good for 10th on the list. Compass acquired Alain Pinel earlier this year.
EXp Realty was another big riser on the list. The company reported $19 billion in sales volume, a 236 percent increase and jumped from 23rd on last year’s list to sixth. It also finished third in both agent count and total transactions.
Top franchisors
The top 20 franchisors by sales volume, according to the Swanepoel Mega 1000 | Credit: T3 Sixty
Keller Williams Realty once again topped the list of top franchisors in the country, nearly doubling its sales volume lead over second place RE/MAX. Keller Williams finished with $322 billion in total sales volume among its franchisees, a 6.2 percent year-over-year increase and was the only franchisor to top 1 million transactions.
Keller Williams had 313 individual brokerages make the top-1,000 brokerage list.
“More than 31 percent of the most productive real estate firms in this year’s Mega 1000 are with Keller Williams,” Darryl Frost, a spokesperson for Keller Williams told Inman. “That’s a strong testament to the dedication of our leaders and agents within those 313 individual businesses. We’re very proud to be in business with them.”
RE/MAX’s total sales volume actually dropped 3.1 percent and the company finished with $262 billion in sales on 989,000 transactions. It does have approximately 100,000 fewer agents than Keller Williams, however, which is also the leader in agent count at around 168,000.
If sales in Canada were included in the list, however, RE/MAX would be no. 1 because of its large presence in Canada.
Coldwell Banker joined Keller Williams and RE/MAX as the only franchisor to top $200 billion in volume, finishing slightly behind RE/MAX with $246 billion in sales volume.
The entire top 10 stayed intact from last year’s list, but Weichert Realtors — which does not provide exact numbers to Swanepoel — saw the biggest decrease in sales volume, which was down roughly 17 percent year-over-year.
Top holding companies
The top 20 holding companies by sales volume, according to the Swanepoel Mega 1000 | Credit: T3 Sixty
Realogy is once again the biggest real estate holding company, reporting an industry-leading more than $511 billion in sales volume. It’s followed by Keller Williams, RE/MAX and HomeServices of America, all of whom far outpace the rest of the field.
Companies such as Realogy and HomeServices of America, which have both an own-side brokerage and franchise operations, have a distinct advantage by being able to combine the two segments for the final ranking.
Compass’ ascent up the charts in sales volume actually landed it in fourth place as the fourth-largest real estate holding company in the country, solely on the strength of its growing brokerage operation.
